Electrical signal-transmitter.



"J. IVIcFELL. ELECTRICAL SIGNAL TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG- I9, I914.

Patented July 17, 1917.

I I 9 7N3 675191 I 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. McFELL. ELECTRICAL SIGNAL TRANSMITTER.

rammed July 17, 1917.

2 suns-sum 2.

r e o 7 j n o s M J JUDSON MCFELL, OF.OI-IICAG-O, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRICAL SIGNAL-TRANSMITTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, JllllW.

Application filed August 19, 1914. Serial No. 857,447.

. mission box which provides a toothed si 'nal wheel, operating a signal switch, and drlven in rotation by a spring motor that is manually wound each time a signal is to be transmitted, the spring motor is of course built to rotate the signal Wheel at proper speed to operate the signal switch with such precision and uniformity as is productive of the best results in signal transmission. Therefore it is very desirable that the person pulling the boX shall not be able to interfere with the motor-operation, and, to this end, that the manually-operable handle by which one winds the motor and sets the boX in operation shall, as soon as it has performed these motor-winding-and-starting functions, be disabled from furtherinfluencing the operation of the motor until the sig: nal transmission has been completed and all parts restored to normal, quiescent condition. If the person operating the transmitter can, by manipulation of the handle, either accelerate or retard the motor operatlon, he is apt to harm the motor mecha- .nism or to cause the signal switch to be operated so irregularly that the signal-transmission is imperfect.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a signal transmitting mechanlsm in which the pivoted handle, or other winding instrumentality, is movable through a predetermined cycle, from and toward nor mal position, as a prerequisite to winding the motor and starting it in operation, and in which said handle, upon completion of said cyclic movement is automatically disabled to affect in any way the operation of the motor mechanism until the motor has run down, and in which the motormechanism, by completing its signal-transmitting operation, automatically removes the disability and restores the functional relation between the winding handle and the motor mechanism.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide such a mechanism in cooperation with an electrical switch that is auxiliary to a signaling switch, so as to insure that the auxiliary switch shall perform its circuitmaking-and-breaking operations in appropriate timed relation to the cycle of operations of the motor-driven signal wheel.

Another object of my invention is to provide mechanism which is simple, cheap, easily manufactured, eflicient, reliable, and certain in its operation; and further objects of my invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a transmitter embodying my invention, with the casing and winding handle in section.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation with the casing broken away in parts.

Fig. 3 is an extended perspective view showing portions of the mechanism with some of the parts separated laterally for clearness of illustration of the respective parts (bracket-lines indicating parts that cooperate when the mechanism is condensed ,in its operative relation).

Figs. 4, 5 and G are views similar to Figs. 1, 52 and 3, respectively, of a modified mechanism embodying features of my invention.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 it is intended that the winding handle shall be connectible with the motor mechanism only through the intermediary of a movable element (in this instance taking the form of a pawl) that stands normally in position to make its connection between the winding handle and the motor mechanism but that is moved to disabled or idle position in the course of the cyclic operation of the winding handle. Thus, when the handle has moved through its cycle of operation necessary to wind the motor and start the same in operation, this connecting intermediary will have been thrown to disabled po- "strain or break the latching part.

351 -Figs. 1-to 31 will first describe specifically:

"The casing 10, of any desired construction, preferably houses 'allof the mechanism ible with the motor train by apawl 17 and at all and therefore may not affect the motor, and that the running down of the motor,

shall unlatch the handle after the signal transmission has been completed.

' ln'many instances, the first form of mechanism is to be preferred, particularly, for instance, infi re-alar m boxes, wherethe person operatin'g the transmitter is apt to be understress of excitement, for the very 'looseness of the winding handle, after the box has been started in operation is quickly convincing of the futility of trying to accelerate or retard the transmission of the signal, whereas the locking of the handle by mechanism as shown in Figs. 4 to 6 mi'gh t -eause the excited user to wrench at the Winding lever in a fashion that would For manypurposes,- however, as in messenger call and watch service systems, and the like,

the second form of mechanism, slightly cheaper 1n construction, is satisfactory and desirable. Principally, however, both forms of mechanism as herein shown are indicative of thefact that in its broader aspect my invention issu'sceptible to changes in the spe- "ci-fic embodiment without departure from the spirit of my invention.

The" form of mechanism illustrated in eXicept the Winding handle 11 which in this casetalies the form of an oscillatable lever having arange of effective movement preferably definedby two stop pins 12 and 12' "on the face of the casing. The hub 13-of the winding handle takes the form of a sleeve, loosely surrounding the windingshaft 14 -of a clock work motor 15.

stru'cti-on suggested in the drawings shaft 14 is acted on by spring 16 and is connectratchet 18, the toothed spacing of the ratchet b ing preferably such that full movement of thewinding lever 11 from one of its' stop pins 12 to' its other stop pin 12 will cause the pawl 17 to take a fresh bite of' three teeth on the ratchet 18 and will wind the motor for three revolutions of-the wheel 20. The motor 1'5, as usual, drives in rot-ation a signal Wheel 20 that cooperates with a signal switch '21, these parts, together with the remaining instrumentalities to be described, being preferably carried in front of the frame plate 22 of the motor.

" The'winding handle 11 carries,-"on the in- I driven part mechanically to stop the motor when said part c. is in stopping position. d is a connector pawl carried by the winding lever 11 acting as an intermediary between levers a and b so that the handle 11, on-it's first downward movement, from stop 12 to-stop 12 may carry the winding lever "b with it in rotation, causing the winding shaft, 1 1, through its ratchet and pawl mechanism, to wind the motor to the extent -of one or more teeth of ratchet, 18, so that, of course, the winding lever I) cannot return to initial position except by the running down of the motor. On its return inovemen'tito normal position with the handle 11, the' 'controller lever a raises the connecting intermediaryor pawl d and the lat- 'ter islocked in raised position by a disabli ng dog 19, so that when once this operation has occurred, the winding lever is made w holly independent of the controller lever anntil such time as the disabling dog '6 releases pawld. This does not occur until the winding lever b has returned to normal position, throwing the latch dog 0 against a releasing device or stud f that trips'the dog and-allows pawl d again to drop into position of cooperation with the lever a. Thus the handle 11, once it has been moved through its cycle, is free from the motor train, but is idle.

The cooperation of said controller lever a with the lock 0 is such that when the lever a is moved a little in motor winding direction, it permits the lock lever c to drop to position that locks the motor against rotation, and said locked condition of the motor continues until restoration of the contro'ller l'ever a to norma-l position, complet- The mo- "tor construction, generically, isold. Many different forms might be used. In the coning-its cycle, has occurred, whereupon lever -atripst'he lock and frees the motor. Therefore, it will be seen, in order to wind and start the motor it is necessary to move winding handle 11 from pin 12 toward pin 12 sufliciently to advance pawl 17 one or more teeth on ratchet 18, then to move the winding handle back to pin 12, completing its cycle.

The winding-lever 'b and lock-lever 0 both cooperate, in the embodiment shown, with the spring switch g, that acts in two capacities, one as an electrical switch auxiliary to the signal switch, the other as a mechanical holding-dog or detent for the lock-lever 0. Lever b normally holds said switch g closed and when lever a moves to the right, locklever '0 drops into position to maintain said Switch 9 closed'before the lever b is moved out of engagement therewith. Therefore it from the switch.

is requisite that the motor shall have been wound and released before the switch I opens. Incidentally I prefer that the switch 9 itself shall act as a detent so that when once it is allowed to open, by the raising of lock-lever c, it shall prevent the lock 0 from dropping, thereby positively holding the lock in inoperative position, until the re turn of lever b restores switch 9 to normal position.

Specifically to describe the parts as shown in detail in Figs. 1 to 3, the controller lever a has arms 24, 25 and 26. Arm 24 is connected by a link27 to a restoring spring 28 secured to an abutment 29, so that the winding lever 11 is normally spring held in contact with, and is spring returned toward, the stop pin 12. Arm 25 has a notch 30 having one face beveled and the other face square, for cooperation with similar faces of tooth 31 of the pawl (Z that is pivoted at 32 on a head 33 of the winding lever Z). .On said head there is pivoted at 34 the latch dog 6, that has a tooth 35 to cooperate with a stud 36 of the pawl d, the pawl and latch being mutually acted on by a spring 37 that tends to throw the dog into engaging position and tends to throw the pawl (Z downward. When the parts are in normal position the tail'38 of latch is so raised by the abutment f that the latch is held in unlatching position. In such normal position, further, an insulating block 39 on the head 33 holds the auxiliary switch 9 closed, and in such position (as best indicated in Fig. 1) there is enough lost motion between the coacting squared faces of notch 30 and tooth 31, of lever 42 and pawl d respectively, so that the lever a must make several degrees of rotation before it begins to move lever b, and, therefore, before insulating block 39 is moved away from the switch 9. It is while the lever a is making this angular displacement that look lever 0 drops its insulating block 44 into place beside the insulating body 39 so as to prevent the switch 9 from opening when said body 39 moves away Release stud f and switch 9 are both carried on an insulating block 9, and the switch 9 is made up of a vertical spring leaf 9 and a fixed strip 9 said leaf 9 being the one that acts as a spring detent for the head 44 of lock lever 0 when said lever is raised and leaf 9 is sprung open.

The arm 26 of lever a is bent back to span around the winding lever b and has a finger 40 to engage a stud 41 on the lock lever a, normally to hold said lock lever in raised position. This lock lever a may conveniently be made in triangular form to span around theshaft 14, is pivoted as at 42, and has at opposite angles a locking notch 43 and a laterally projecting insulating block 44. The very first movement of the cona switch 9 from opening and so that the notch 43 is thrown into the path of rotation of the pin 45 carried by a suitable part of the .motortraini11 this instance the signal wheel 20v itself. I

In brief rsum: When winding handle 11 is moved to the right, lever a, engaging pawl d, carries winding lever Z) in rotation and at thevery commencement of lever as movement it permits lock 0 to drop, part 44 looking switch 9 closed and-notch 43 dropping into the path of pin 45. Full depression of handle 11 winds the motor, for three rounds, by advancing pawl 17 three teeth on ratchet 18, anything less than suflicient movement of the winding handle to advance pawl 17 one tooth on ratchet 18 simply resulting in a fruitless return of the handle 11 without winding or starting the motor.

WVhen the handle 11 has been moved down toward or to stop pin 12 and is released it will be spring returned to normal position, raising pawl 01 which thereupon is latched in raised position by latch-dog e and, upon completion of the return of lever a to normal position lock 0 is raised and held in raised position by the springing out ofde tent g of switch 7 under the insulating head 44. Thus lock lever c is prevented from again locking the motor. The raising and latching of pawl cl leaves the winding handle 11 free on the winding shaft, but any movement that it makes is entirely idle. The motor does not begin to transmit its signal until the return of lever a has raised lock 0, so insuring that the handle 11 must be disabled before the signal transmission begins. Running down ofthe motor, returning winding lever b to initial position, trips the latch e, at stud f, at the time when block 39 again closes switch 9 and frees the locking lever c for depression again.

In Fig. 3 I have diagrammatically shown the signal switch 21 as of three-leaf construction and auxiliary switch 9 as connected in a circuit representing, in skeleton form, a fire alarm system such as is illustrated in my copending application, Serial No. 808,070 filed December 22nd, 1913 (Pat. No. 1,171,129, issued Feb. 8, 1916) wherein switch 21 is a normally open switch, normally bridged by closed switch 9, and providing a fire-alarm-signal system of the open-circuit type but normally under test. It will be apparent, however, that my present invention is not limited to embodiments in such a system, although in such arrangement the switch .9 is advantageously utilized in the dual capacity of an electrical auxiliary switch and a mechanical detent for the lock lever c.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4 to 6, parts kindred to those shown in Figs. 1 to 3 are indicated by like'reference characters, the principal change being that for the disabling and releasing mechanism e, and f I substitute disablin dog 6 pivoted at 34 on the switch blcc: g" and normally pressed by spring 37 so that its tooth 35 1 to 3; and manifestly the chief difference in operation is, that when the controller lever a is moved by the handle 11 downward to wind the motor, and back again to release the motor-lock a, projection 35 is latched by the tooth 35' of dog 6 so that the windin-g handle is positively held against any movement whatever until the running down efthe motor shall have brought winding le- Letters Patent is ver 6 back to initial position where its releasing stud fcrcan disengage the disabling dog 6,

WVhile, for the purposes of full disclosure I have illustrated specific details which I find to be advantageous in practice, it will be understood that many changes in the em bodiment of my invention may be made without departure from the spirit of my invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim with a view and desire to secure by 1. In a signal transmitter, the combination with a spring motor providing a winding shaft and a signal wheel operating the signal switch, of a winding handle, a winding lever on the winding shaft, a motor locking lever, a controller lever carried by the winding handle, cooperating with said winding lever and locking lever tocause the same to wind the motor and lock the motor respectively as said controller lever is moved in one direction and to unlock the motor upon restoration of the controller lever to initial position, means to prevent reengagement of said controller lever with thewinding'lever after unlocking of the motor comprising a pawl arranged to act only upon reverse movement of the winding handle and means controlled by the return movement of the winding lever for releasing saiddisabling means.

2. In a signal transmitter the combination with a spring motor for driving a signal wheel cooperating with a signaling switch; of an auxiliary switch associated with the signaling switch; an operating handle; means for winding said motor, locking it against unwinding and locking the auxiliary switch closed all in response to movement of the operating handle in one direction and for releasing said motor and anxiliary switch-locking means in response to return movement of said operating handle.

3. In a signal transmitter, the combination with a spring motor having a winding shaft and driving a signaling wheel cooperating with a signaling switch, of an auxiliary switch associated with said signaling switch, a winding lever, normally cooperating with said auxiliary switch, a

motor locking lever movable in one direction to lock the motor and cooperate with said auxiliary switch and in the other direction to release said motor and switch, a winding handle controlling said winding lever and locking lever, to wind the motor and lock the same on movement of said handle in one direction and to release the locking lever upon restoration to normal position, disabling means to prevent reengagement of said winding handle with the winding lever, and means controlled by the return movement of the winding lever for restoring said disabling means to normal position.

4;. In a signal transmitter, the combination of a spring motor having a winding shaft and a signal wheel associated with a signaling switch, of a switch auxiliary to the signaling switch, a locking lever movable to lock said motor against operation and to cooperate with the auxiliary switch and in the other direction to release the motor and switch, a winding lever fast on the winding shaft of the motor, normally cooperating with said auxiliary switch, said auxiliary switch when released by the said windin lever and locking lever cooperating with said locking lever to maintain same in unlocking position, a winding handle, a controller lever carried thereby, means effecting cooperation between said controller lever and the winding lever and locking lever wherebymovement of the handle in one direction winds the motor and drops the locking lever to locking position, and return movement of said handle unlocks said lever, disabling means controlled by said controller lever responsive to its return movement to prevent its reengagement with the winding lever, and means controlled by the winding lever for freeing said disabling means upon return of the winding lever to initial position.

5. In a signal transmitter, the combination with a spring motor having a winding shaft,

7 a winding lever fast on said shaft provided with a pawl, an operating handle loose on the shaft, and means carried by said handle cooperating with said pawl to move the winding lever with the handle in winding direction and to lift said pawl when the handle is returned, a dog for said pawl carried by said Winding lever, and means for releasing said dog upon completion of the return movement of said winding lever.

6. In a signal transmitter, the combination with a spring motor having a winding shaft, of a winding handle loose with respect to said shaft, a winding lever fast on said shaft, a connecting element carried by one of said parts to connect them for winding movement in unison, said connecting element movable to inoperative position on the return movement of the winding handle, means for latching said element in said inoperative position, means for releasing said latch upon return of said Winding lever to initial position, motor locking means controlled by said winding handle, movable to motor locking position on the winding movement of said handle and to releasing position upon return of said handle, and detent means for holding said lock in releasing position, releasable by the return movement of the winding lever.

7. In a signal transmitter, the combination with a spring motor having a'winding shaft, of a Winding lever fast thereon, a winding handle loose on the shaft, a pawl on said lever for engagement by a part movable with the winding handle when the handle is moved to wind the motor, and movable out of engaging position by return movement of the handle, a latch dog on the lever for holding said latch in the lastmentioned position and means to release the latch dog when said lever reaches a predetermined position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

J UDSON MoFELL.

In the presence of GEO. T. MAY, Jr., STANLEY W. 0001:.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

